The Hanging Gardens of Mauch
Chunk
For the amateur
archeologist, Jim Thorpe is a treasure trove of intriguing remains from the
industrial era. Foundations of long gone
buildings, remains of a mountain top railroad and imposing ruins of canal locks
are just a few of the fascinating finds for the explorer. The winter months are the best time to
explore, when the leaves are gone and the ground is bare. At this time, especially with a light coating
of snow on the ground, one of the most interesting ruins becomes much more
apparent. The best vantage point is from
the Flagstaff or the Mansion House Hill.
This is when you can best see the terraced hillside overlooking Broadway. Like the bones of some ancient civilization,
the stone walls look like something the Inca may have left behind. In reality the terraced hillside was built by
Victorian Era residents of “Millionaire’s Row” on Broadway.
The largest terrace was
built by William G. Freyman. He was a
veteran of the Civil War and made a fortune as an attorney and businessman, but
a part of his interests remained with the profession he grew up with – farming.
Born in the Mahoning Valley
in 1833, Freyman was raised on the family farm.
As the only son in the family he might have continued in that trade had
not the Civil War come along. He
enlisted and fought with the 176th Regiment of the Pennsylvania
Volunteers. Following the war he worked
as an engineer and surveyor, while at the same time studying law. In 1871 he made law his full time profession
and in 1873 he was admitted to the bar of Carbon Co. During the notorious Mollie Maguire trials of
the 1870s he worked in the office of Gen. Charles Albright, who led the
prosecution of the Mollies.
In the late 1870s Freyman
bought a property on Broadway not far from Albright’s and within view of the
courthouse. Formerly the home of Dr.
David Shoemaker, Freyman renovated the home top to bottom, turning it into one
of the townhouse mansions of Mauch Chunk’s Millionaire’s Row. The rear of his home abutted the steep
hillside, leaving no room for a garden.
However, his property extended partway up the
hillside, going as far as a borough street known as Pipe Alley. This alley started at the curve on Packer
Hill, just below the Asa Packer Mansion, and, clinging to the hillside, ran
parallel to Broadway nearly to the point of connecting with Opera House
Hill. The alley was never really
developed and was mainly used as a surveyor’s line separating properties.
Freyman began by terracing
his property behind his home, going on to buy more land, extending his property
to the Switchback Railroad at the top of the hill 200 feet above Broadway. Freyman also bought land to either side,
widening his property from the 30-foot width at the bottom to a width of about
150 feet further up the hill. Many
workers were brought in to build the terraces, and once completed his terraced
“farm” consisted of 22 terraces connected by a stairway of 353 steps.
But the extent of his venture was not just the
building of a terraced hillside; it was what he did with the terraces once they
were constructed. Freyman used the
terraces to pursue his horticultural interests, which were wide-ranging. A portion was used for raising flowers, fruit
trees and ornamental trees. The rest he
used to raise vegetables. On top of the
hill – in Upper Chunk – he raised Holstein cattle and also had a chicken
house. A large barn tended the livestock
along with other buildings
typical of a more traditional farm. His
orchard had apple trees of many different varieties along with peach, pear and
plum trees. For his comfort and
enjoyment he had constructed a gazebo on a terrace about 150 feet above the
street at the upper end of his property.
From this refuge he had a clear view overlooking the Opera House as well
as Broadway and West Broadway. The
retreat included a large fireplace built into the terrace wall.
Freyman continued the upkeep
of his property and home into the 1920s.
The Freymans had no children and after they died during the 1920s the property
passed into the possession of relatives who later sold it. Eventually the large home was divided into
apartments and the terraced hillside was left to return to nature. In later years the terraced property was
privately owned, eventually being donated to the borough.
Freyman wasn’t the first or
only person to take an interest in terracing the steep hill behind his home –
but his was the most extensive. George
Belford terraced the hillside prior to 1860 and sometime following the Civil
War Charles Albright constructed terraces above his property on Millionaire’s
Row. Fred Bertolette later owned the
Albright property and made improvements on Albright’s terraces, including a
sledge running from the top of the property (adjacent to the Switchback Railroad
right-of-way) to a point about halfway down the hillside. This was used to make it easier to transport
gardening materials, the sledge moving on a track along a special stairway. A cable winding around a large cylinder would
lower the sledge to where the materials were needed. Like Freyman’s property, Bertolette’s
terraces extended 200 feet up the hillside as far as the Switchback Railroad
and rivaled Freyman’s. The Packer family
also had extensive terraces built on their property, including a large
greenhouse and other out-buildings between the mansion and the caretaker
house. The hillside wasn’t as steep on
the Packer property which allowed the terraces to be broader than the others. Today only the terraces on the Packer
property are still maintained and are open to the explorer, providing an
interesting view of the town below.
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All text and webpage design by Jack Sterling
©2009-2015
Pictures courtesy of the Mauch Chunk Museum & Cultural Center